


Wings Of An Angel

by virvatulilla



Series: Short stories about wings [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:45:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virvatulilla/pseuds/virvatulilla
Summary: Victorian (?) setting





	Wings Of An Angel

****A line of the newest model of steam cars drove past my horse-drawn carriage, when I glanced outside. Street dust rose into the air behind them, covering the only spot where you could see the royal palace from behind the park's trees before the paved street turned towards its gardens. I raised a fan in front of my face to conceal my frustration, because after spending the first week of spring on my summer villa I had been eager to see the palace.

As I stepped out of the carriage after the driver stopped the horses I saw that the crystal chandeliers created yellow light patches in the garden through the high glass windows. Despite the lights there were so many shadowy spots in the garden that they could be used to escape the party. On the dirt road in the middle there was a steady flow of people walking towards the open doors to the palace.

“No escort today either, lady Alcorn?” asked the servant on the door as he saw me. He looked new, and I didn't recognize him, but he seemed to recognize me. I shook my head with a smile, and he let me step inside without further questions.

I felt proud as I was walking along the long corridor towards the ballroom. I had belonged to the court for so long that even the new servants recognized me. The king himself I hadn't seen, only a glimpse of his backside, but even that was more than most could honestly claim to have seen of him.

The ballroom was full of people and music. There were many pairs on the dance floor, and some of them were new faces to me. Before anyone could notice my arrival I searched for my friends' faces from the crowd, and joined them as I realized they were sitting almost next to me.

“You should practice your playing more, if you want to attract Troy Warren's attention,” Lelah was saying to Wilda when they noticed me. “Merle!” Lelah exclaimed happily and grabbed my hands enthusiastically. “Was your week on the villa a pleasant one?”

I sat between my friends, straightening my shawl. “The rain didn't seem to end for all week,” I said with a sigh. “I had to spend time inside. Only this morning did the sun come out.”

“What a bad luck you had,” Lelah said compassionately. “At least you didn't have to travel here in a downpour.”

“I'm sure you had a lot of time to practice playing,” Wilda said, raising her fan in front of her mouth. “With your skills I'm sure you could even get to perform in the king's private matinee.”

“Don't try to start a fight, Wilda,” Lelah said. ”You surely know Merle wouldn't go after the same men as you, right, Merle?”

“Of course not,” I said without raising my fan. Wilda gave me a long, serious look, then smiling. “See that you keep your word”, she said.

After only a brief moment we saw that Troy Warren was coming towards us. “May I have this dance, lady Merle?” he asked, extending his hand towards me.

“Unfortunately I am way too tired from the journey, sir Warren,” I said, giving him an apologetic smile. “But my good friend Wilda Morris here will gladly dance in my place,” I continued before Warren could say anything against it. He turned Wilda with a smile, and she took his hand, blushing a little.

“That's great, Merle!” Lelah gushed when the pair was walking towards the dance floor. “That was the best course of action you could have done, for both of you,” she said, glancing towards Wilda.

I leaned back as much as my corset allowed. “You're absolutely right that I don't like similar men as Wilda,” I said from behind my fan. “I still haven't met anyone who would understand me.”

“If you're that picky about men, you're going to stay unmarried,” Lelah said, looking at me with worry in her eyes. “You aren't supposed to be interested in a man because he understands you, but because of their wealth, position, or wanting to continue their family. If you need someone to understand you, turn to your lady friends.”

Lelah put a hand on my arm and leaned closer. “I also know where to find _that kind of_ company, if you… don't care for men.”

I scoffed. ”No thank you. My parents would turn in their graves, if I _paid_ for that kind of thing.”

“Please yourself,” Lelah said, rolling her eyes and standing up. “If you won't take my advice, would you take advice from a friend of mine whose friendship might be the key into a better position?”

She was trying to ask me to come with her, but as usual I just waved my hand. Lelah looked at me with sad eyes, then walked away from me, her fair curls disappearing into the crowd. I sat there for a while longer, but then got up and started walking around the palace. The corridors were emptier now than earlier that night, and I didn't stay to have a conversation with anyone longer than was necessary.

Eventually I found myself in the palace's back yard. The garden was similar to the one in the front of the palace, but smaller, and it looked empty. That suited me. I felt the safest when I was alone.

I walked between the hedges until I found a small pond around which were stone benches. I sat down on one of them. The surface of the pond reflected the starry sky so clearly that I thought maybe someone had poured silver on the ground to have a mirror. I took of my shoes, opened my black hair, took away my jewels and gloves along with everything else extra that I could without looking promiscuous. I gathered my skirts and stepped into the pond.

A sudden scream slicing through the calm air stopped me. I turned my head towards the sound. It had been so close that I wasn't sure if I should go see if someone had been hurt. I suppose I turned around too fast, because I lost my balance and fell into the pond. It was so deep that for a moment I was wholly under the surface. I climbed to the shore, dripping wet, because I had decided I would go and see what had made that sound.

A lonely lamp illuminated a small clearing in the middle of the hedge maze. I didn't see anyone in the clearing, and unsuspectingly walked into the light.

“Don't come any closer!”

I started. In the shadows barely outside where the light reached I could barely discern a half-naked man. I immediately turned my eyes elsewhere, but otherwise didn't move. “Was it you who shouted?” I asked. My wet back was starting to itch, but I tried to stay as still as I could.

“You are not a servant.”

“Should I be?”

“Where did you go swimming?”

“I fell into a pond when you screamed,” I said, clenching my jaw. The itching in my back had become unbearable, and I couldn't stay still anymore. “I'm sorry,” I said as I dropped on my knees. I tried to slide out of the light before the back of my dress was torn apart, but it was too late. The man standing in the shadows got to see my wings in all their glory.

“I deeply apologize for this,” I whispered with teary eyes, holding the front of my dress up with my hands. The back had been torn apart again, because the cotton straps hadn't been able to keep my wings folded after they had been strengthened after a week of flying. “I apologize that you had to see me like this,” I repeated. Tears were flowing from my eyes, because I had never humiliated myself like this before. “I– I think I'll leave.” I stood up.

“Don't go.”

I halted. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned around to see the half-naked man walking into the light. His golden hair was tied back with a bow, and even in that modest outfit he was more beautiful than any man I'd seen before, but my attention was fixed on his wings, that were almost as big and white as mine.

“Arthur,” he said, extending his hand to me. My eyes widened, when pieces suddenly locked into place. I shook his hand. “Merle,” I said cautiously. “King Arthur?”

“So I have heard,” the king said, gesturing me to follow him deeper into the maze garden. “I feel like I don't quite understand it. You would think a king gets to decide from the country's things, and show himself to the people, but I feel that I'm nothing more than a caged bird.”

The king sat down on a bench alongside of the hedge and gestured me to sit next to him. “I think I understand what you mean,” I smirked. “You are the only outsider that has ever seen my wings.”

The king leaned towards me and smiled. I flinched a little when he put his hand gently over mine, but I didn't pull away. “How do your wings look that beautiful?” he whispered softly.

I smiled. “Even though in the city I have to keep them hidden, on my summer villa I can fly.”

“Fly!?” the king exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from the bench. ”You can fly?”

I nodded, confused of the king's sudden anger. “Of course,” I said.

The king turned to me, his eyes burning with anger. “Look at these,” he said, flapping his wings. “ _Look_ at them. Cropped feathers. As if I would fly away from my responsibilities the first moment I could. How I wish I was trusted enough for them to let me take care of those responsiblities.”

A breath escaped from my lips when I saw the king's wings properly. His burning eyes turned at me. “You wouldn't understand,” he hissed. “How could you? You're pitying me, because you think that's what you should feel towards a king that can't fly. How could you understand my situation? Your life is good, so what do you know about how I feel?”

“And you know how I feel?” I asked with a chilly voice. “Have you heard of jealousy?”

The king's eyes narrowed. “Do you think I'm jealous of you?”

I shrugged. “Most of my parents' servants walked away the moment I was born, but some of the ones who stayed had children around my age. You can surely imagine what children can be like when they're both jealous and afraid.”

“How could I know?” the king muttered. “I have always been kept safe from mean people who would want to hurt me.”

I tilted my head. “I don't think so,” I said. ”Cropping flight feathers is mean. Believe me, I know that. It was done to me when I was a child – that and more.”

It was like the king hadn't heard my explanation. “Did you know insulting the king's advisers can count as treason?” he asked. “Do you want me to call the guards?”

I stood up and bowed to the king with a mocking smile. “If that's what you want, your majesty,” I said. “I hope you feel like you could fill your responsibility and listen to your subject this time.” I didn't stand around waiting for the king's reaction, but dropped the dress I was holding up so that I only had a thin underdress on. I spread my wings and jumped into the air without looking back.

As I was flying I kept a close eye on the surroundings. For my luck it was the darkest hours of the night, so nobody noticed me as I landed on the palace's roof. Beside a tower I found a place that wind didn't reach, and snuggled up there. My thin underdress didn't give me much warmth, and I was shaking from the cold night air. I wrapped my wings around myself. They gave me more warmth than a better dress would have.

The king had made me remember my childhood, so the restless nightmares in the short hours of morning were like memories from that part of my life.

_I'm sitting on the lowest branch of a big tree, dangling my legs, when I see the servants' children coming closer to me on a field bathing in the sunlight. As they get closer I see that they have sharp tools in their angrily shaking hands. They're chasing me again, even though I haven't done anything. And they always find me._

_I manage to hide especially long. The sun is starting to set when they catch me, pull me down from my legs. “You can't hide, you can't fly,” they sing as they press my face against the soil. I can see the hate in their eyes, and I know they hate me for being what I am. Something I didn't get to choose. As I taste blood in my mouth I couldn't wish harder to be like all other children._

_I_ _try to run, but they run faster. My flight feathers have been cropped, and I can't fly, that way getting away would be easy. As they push me on the ground, I open my mouth and scream._

I woke up to my own shout with a start. As I was sleeping I had rolled away from the corner I had been in, and now I swiftly drew back there. As I bundled up I remembered the events of the previous night. The only person I had thought for a moment would understand me if only a little seemed to be so full of self-pity that he didn't even want to hear someone else's opinion.

As I heard voices down in the garden I parted my wings so that I could see the yard bathing in the morning sunlight. It was bustling with people running around in servant outfits and for some reason peering towards the roof. For a second I was afraid they were looking for me, but then I saw the king lifting himself over the roof's edge.

“Merle?” the king called when he catched his breath. I didn't answer, because I didn't particularly want him to find me dressed like that, not after I had acted like a fool before him last night.

The king walked towards the tower behind which I was hiding, but he didn't see me yet. “I want to apologize for my behavior last night,” he called. “You were right. “The people around me are mean, but I couldn't believe it until I heard something that convinced me of it. And to be honest… I am jealous of you. I want to be able to fly.”

“Apology accepted,” I said quietly. Arthur twirled towards me. As his eyes widened I remembered I only had a thin underdress on me. Before I could turn away the king took of his jacket and pushed it towards me, covering his eyes with one hand.

“You were right,” the king said when I had his jacket to cover myself. “I shouldn't have yelled at you.”

I shook my head. “Frankly, I am used to being treated like that, your majesty.”

“Well, you shouldn't be,” he said, sitting down with his wings slightly spread, and then, “Arthur. “If anyone, you should call me by my first name.”

I tilted my head as I sat down next to him. I spread my wings, letting the sunlight warm them. “Arthur,” I said, trying out the name. “What did you think of doing now that I've forgiven your actions?”

Arthur shrugged. “I have been thinking about different options, which all include you staying with me – and I don't mean it like that. I would just like to learn how to be a ruler before taking back my ruling power from my advisers, and I get the feeling from you that you could help me, better than anyone else I've met. You even made me have that thought. So if you wish, you are welcome to live in this palace.”

I was silent for so long that Arthur started squirming from the pressure of an uncomfortable silence. Eventually I sighed. “Very well,” I said, “but I have a couple of conditions.”

Arthur nodded. “I'm listening.”

“First of all you won't let anyone else than me touch your wings again,” I said firmly. “Secondly, you will learn to fly as soon as your flight feathers grow back.”

“They grow back?” Arthur said, giving me an unbelieving look. “I was told that I will never be able to fly.”

“Given enough time, they will,” I said with a smile. “Well, do you agree to my conditions?”

Arthur smiled. “Of course,” he said, “right away.”

“You seem to trust me awfully much given how little time we've known each other,” I chuckled. “Aren't you a bit too trusting, Arthur?”

He shook his head, laughing. “You're Merle,” he said as if that alone could explain his trust in me. “There's no way I wouldn't trust you.”

I leaned back and closed my eyes. The sunlight turned the insides of my eyelids red, and I felt a light wind caressing my skin. I could only smile, because beside Arthur I felt I was exactly where I was supposed to be.


End file.
